dont ask me to define "active"..lets say have to have published a novel since 2000...good? i ask because i really sleep hard on contemporary shit...knowledge me, por favor.

based on her current books and her old magazine articles

i like rowling too but how you can you compare?

edit: nevermind, i just noticed you posted this to everyone's response! i do like the potter books though, you excited for the movie?

so I would definitely put Jonathan Franzen on the list

Also, David Mitchell, for Cloud Atlas alone.

And Edward P. Jones, for The Known World.

And Jeffrey Eugenides, for Middlesex.

And Haruki Murakami, for Sputnik Sweetheart and Norwegian Wood (dunno if those are post-2000, but they're the best I've read from him so far, and Kafka on the Shore, his latest, was kind of disappointing).

Zadie Smith for White Teeth.

Paul Beatty for The White Boy Shuffle and Tuff.

That's all I can really think of at the moment, but there's 7 at least.

I forget what it's called right now, but he has a collection published that I really liked. In particular the piece he wrote about The Corrections and the Oprah fallout, called "Mr. Difficult." It was a useful discussion of high-art vs. low-art, the relationship between reader and author, idea and art, etc. Whether you agree with him or not it's worth reading. Not every essay really interested me, but most of them were good and solid. If you like the Corrections, though, you should definitely read "Mr. Difficult."

I also got one of his earlier books, Second City, I think to read over the summer but now it's just sitting w/ a bunch of other books I got to read over the summer but never did.

I like his other novels fairly well too, though The Corrections is head and shoulders above either of them. I like some of his short pieces, I think that Oprah piece was pretty good though I have a tough time remembering it specifically, but overall I much prefer his novels to his short non-fiction stuff.

I didn't love it.

I like him better as a social critic than as a novelist, although I did really like The Corrections.

Though neither is nearly as good as The Corrections

can you just stick to GD? They seem to like that sort of thing there.

emailed me a link to England's favorite books of the century. Well, as you might imagine, "favorite" = "popular" and all the Harry Potter books were on it. Along with a few other choice pieces of crap. I told my friend I never wanted to speak to him again.

before you trash them

Let's get this straight: They're *children's* books. I did not like the book, and when I gave it further thought, I realized that I really had very little in common with the people who had so strongly urged me to read them. Generally speaking, those who pushed them on me did not care for the books or films that I like. Makes sense, doesn't it?

I like the Harry Potter books a lot, but the writing just isn't on the same level as real top novelists. I enjoy reading them, I wouldn't disrespect someone's intelligence for recommending them, but at the same time if someone really thinks she's one of the 10 best novelists working today, our tastes aren't likely to coincide.

thanks for recommending it. eugenides reminds me a little of rushdie with his playful writing style.

Yeah, I can definitely see the comparison, and I enjoy that attitude a lot more than magic realism, though that may just be me. Speaking of which, I need to read some more Rushdie. Just a word of warning, I dunno if you've read The Virgin Suicides or not, but Middlesex is much, much better, in my opinion. But hopefully it'll just be one of many great books to come.

Eugenides had a good short story in the New Yorker a week or two ago. I dunno if he has enough for a collection yet, but I'm definitely intrigued to check that out if it happens.

i'll scratch the virgin suicides off my list.

and I really loved The Virgin Suicides.

but put it at the very bottom.

but as i think janey said they're not even really comparable. two entirely different novels but it's definitely worth reading. now i just wish dude would release another book...


PEACE

I can tell you must have read a lot of books.

charles johnson
paul beatty
the dude who wrote soul mountain (asian cat, don't wanna disrespect by misspelling his name)

That sentence should be enoughto get you ass locked up for a few years in any civilized court of law.

In other words, you on that good crack

« trifling ass nigga »

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**************** OKP Free Agent****************

Dunno just which one is best, they're all pretty good so far, though I like the Easy Rawlins ones better than the Fearless Jones ones. Walkin' The Dog is pretty good too.

************************************************

<<<<<<<<Don't Drool On The Avy>>>>>>>>

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"
-George Clinton

**************** OKP Free Agent****************

but yeah, Walter Mosley is in my top as well. I've read all his books and he never fails to amaze me. His output of so many novels is amazing as well.

except for a few children's books, i don't think i've read any novels published during my lifetime

oh... except some tom clancys and a ken follet, The Third Twin or something. maybe a couple of other random thriller's i've forgotten. Some of the latter Dune novels I suppose

there's like 5 centuries of writing to catch up on first!

anyone else like this?

might read an Inspector Morse one of these days

like i said, im the same way...lol but i dont read childrens books. i have to say, now that i think about it, ive done a bit...i used to read some elmore leonard, some moseley...and i guess morrison's cool..but u know..i dunnno..i like don delillo *sp*...im talkin some real lyrical type cats on some real stylish prose thing...thats just the sort of thing im a fan of and cant imagine too many cats doing these days.

>except for a few children's books, i don't think i've read
>any novels published during my lifetime
>
u bullshittin.


>there's like 5 centuries of writing to catch up on first!
>
agreed. i got madd stuff i need to read..madame bovary and some other stuff i cant think of right now. but yeah im sure something like that is more urgently necessary to read than say the latest grisham novel...

>like i said, im the same way...lol but i dont read childrens
>books. i have to say, now that i think about it, ive done a
>bit...i used to read some elmore leonard, some moseley...and i
>guess morrison's cool..but u know..i dunnno..i like don
>delillo *sp*...im talkin some real lyrical type cats on some
>real stylish prose thing...thats just the sort of thing im a
>fan of and cant imagine too many cats doing these days.
>

i'm about to read Libra. sounds good

see my problem is... i've got no idea WHAT cats are doing these days. if i read all the new stuff, i wouldn't have time to read the old stuff

>>except for a few children's books, i don't think i've read
>>any novels published during my lifetime
>>
>u bullshittin.
>

no seriously... a few more maybe. Batman Forever: The Book (lol)... maybe some that I did when I was at school though they also would tend to be old

>
>>there's like 5 centuries of writing to catch up on first!
>>
>agreed. i got madd stuff i need to read..madame bovary and
>some other stuff i cant think of right now. but yeah im sure
>something like that is more urgently necessary to read than
>say the latest grisham novel...

yep... it sort of boggles my mind that we even have these threads. i couldn't begin to put together a "top ten current novelists"... i'm surprised that from the thousands of new books to choose from, anyone's EVER read the same one as someone else

Zadie Smith (haven't read her last cos I always wait for paperback)
prolly more that i can't think of right now

_______________________________________________________________________________

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I don't know whether he ranks as among the ten best novelists working today, but I do think he ranks as among the most underrated current novelists.

I'm so wrapped up in my little nonfiction cocoon that I'm completely out of the loop when it comes to contemporary fiction.

_______________________________________________________________________________

"I now respect the Giants." -- OKP bshelly, 10/3/05

Hot to Trotsky: http://www.regeneratedheadpiece.com

but if you have any yen toward Vietnam war lit, his book Closing Arguments is among the best. You might not realize at first that it's a Vietnam war book.

Girls is also quite beautiful and relatively quick. And The Night Inspector is remarkable. Just to name a few.

and that's not to say Closing Arguments isn't good, but still

I thought Tomcat In Love was so-so at best. And I couldn't really get behind The Nuclear Age. That said, I have always made it clear that my two favorite Vietnam related books are The Things They Carried and Dispatches, so don't think I'm sleeping on the genre or O'Brien.

yeah actually so far I've read The Things They Carried, In The Lake Of The Woods, and Going After Cacciato. I didn't like Cacciato quite as much as the other two, but I still liked it better than Closing Arguments.

For Busch, I've only read that and Girls, and I liked Girls much better.

but that's just me.

Yeah, I don't really get Cacciato. Everyone but thee and me says it's his best, but that whole whaddayacallit reality thing doesn't work for me.

The Pulitzer Prize Commitee respectfully disagrees.

_______________________________________________________________________________

"I now respect the Giants." -- OKP bshelly, 10/3/05

Hot to Trotsky: http://www.regeneratedheadpiece.com

lol

my (highly subjective) list, in no order:

john irving
haruki murakami
don delillo
zadie smith
michael chabon
banana yoshimoto
neil gaiman
orson scott card
jeffrey eugenides
j.m. coetzee

i'll look into those cats.

could u recommend a novel or two from each por favor?

john irving - my gf is more versed in irving than I am. she's read damn near everything and has yet to be disappointed. For me, A Prayer for Owen Meany and (don't let the movie phase you) A Cider House Rules.

haruki murakami - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle....and..oh...Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

don delillo - White Noise, Underworld

zadie smith - she's only got three books out. White Teeth, The Autograph Man, and the just released On Beauty.

michael chabon - The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, Wonderboys

banana yoshimoto - Kitchen...can't think of a second recommendation. Not that her other books aren't good, but you should read kitchen first to see if you like her style. If not, it's not even worth checking her others.

neil gaiman - American Gods. His new one is Anansi Boys.

orson scott card - Ender's Game (it was written more for teens/pre-teens, but it's a great book. And it's written in that style with good reason.) Speaker for the Dead.

jeffrey eugenides - Middlesex, Virgin Suicides

j.m. coetzee - Disgrace, Youth

MAO II


probably my favorite of his. i dont know how true this is buti heard after the September 11 attacks the FBI went for advice on how terrorists' minds work or something like that...


PEACE

But I know he's too popular to be considered "great" nowadays.

I do think some of his books tend to be too long, and his endings are not always great, but I've never read a book of his that I didn't enjoy. And most of them I love, and have read multiple times.

he's the definition of prolific. i can't read as fast as he writes.

peace.

i thought he was just finishing up his last series and putting it down for good.

and just writing articles for entertainment weekly


return to your home citizens

madagascar titties- (c) phontiggalo the rap jiggalo

I would never, ever hit a woman....but i'll beat a bitch (c) wifey

That was the poster's criteria for "active."

I knopw he says he's retiring, but a writer like him will continue to keep writing. He may not keep publishing, or he may only publish once every few years, he may get more into writing teleplays and screenplays (he seems to like it, though most would agree that he's far better at novels), or he may stick to writing articles like you said.

I hope he gives us more novels. I love them all.

Tom Robbins (the most colorful writer alive, his plots are always quirky and amazingly imaginative)

John Irving (this guy consistently writes great, sincere and spiritual novels)

Tom Wolfe (Charlotte Simmons, though flawed, was still one hell of an epic in my opinion)

TC Boyle (He is the most underrated writer alive ... check out books like the Tortilla Curtain, Road to Wellville, or anything he's written, they're all wildly captivating, original and entertaining)

Toni Morrison (duh)

Kurt Vonnegut (though he hasn't released a novel since 2000, he still puts stuff out, and is the greatest living writer imo)

Chuck Palahniuk (great writer ... hard to top when it comes to dark humor)

Alice Munroe (If you dig tortured and authentic stories about love and pain, she's hard to top)

Mark Z Danielewski (House of Leaves is the best novel of the last two decades imo, and though it's the only thing he's put out, I'm sure whatever he's working on now will be incredible)

Ray Bradbury (This guy is too often slept on. Everything I've read of his is mind-blowing).

peace.

_______________________________________________________________________________

"I now respect the Giants." -- OKP bshelly, 10/3/05

Hot to Trotsky: http://www.regeneratedheadpiece.com

"One More for the Road" i think the collection was called

Don DeLillo

David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas and Ghostwritten (and that short story in the McSweeney's thing) were incredible.

Based on one novel only, Helen DeWitt. Query whether she can follow it up with anything as good.

uhhhhhhm There was a time when I would have said Stewart O'Nan and I can still make a principled argument for including him, but his work is a little less consistent in quality than it used to be.

hmmmmm

Let me think some more on this.

i didn't know he had a second one already.

what do you recommend from delillo? someone gave me a copy of underworld and i haven't gotten into it yet.

Reading Cloud Atlas for the first time was an unparalleled experience!

As to DeLillo, my favorite is Libra. And as much as I loved Underworld, I can't say for certain that it's the best one of his to start with. The Names, maybe. Libra is a good choice, though. Or White Noise.

guess i gotta go cop cloud atlas.

I wasn't so crazy for Number9Dream, although I thought it was fine. But Cloud Atlas, yeah. Perfection.

There are those who quibble with the form and say it's a gimmick. So that's why it's especially recommended for those who liked Ghostwritten. That form was gimmicky too, but it worked.

.

my list would have to include:

richard powers
don delillo
salman rushdie (tho his last one wasn't stellar)
marilynne robinson

maybe toni morrison too?

there was a time when i'd have put umberto eco's name on the list.

and I'm lukewarm about Housekeeping.

And Eco, you know, Eco is only a half-hearted novelist. His best novels are really just expositions or illustrations of literary theory. His essays are great, though. Great!

that i include robinson.

maybe by this standard i should also include edward p. jones.

and yes, i know eco's half-novelist, half-theorist. i've read lots of his theory. it just so happens that his first two novels are fantastic novels AND fantastic theory at the same time, while his last two ('specially island of the day before) aren't so hot at the "novel" end of things. agreed?

and yeah, he'll never get better than the first two.

On nominating someone on the strength of one novel, why not? I did. Jones is definitely up there, too, and his short stories hold up to close scrutiny.

i didn't know she had another one.


"I maintain with clemency and munificence" -- J-Live

i just remembered that queen loana is eco's latest, which i haven't gotten around to reading. sounds like you're saying not to bother.

"I maintain with clemency and munificence" -- J-Live

Rowling>>>>>>>any active author

or non-fiction. I think I could safely put Chabon, Elmore Leonard and I suppose Edward P. Jones in such a list if I felt I was really able to.

jhumpa lahiri
dave eggers

i love them both, but we'll have to see where they go as novelists

god jr. was really good
_____________________________
quantumb8
UW

Lethem - Motherless Brooklyn is great and Fortress of Solitude was pretty alright too.

Martel - Life of Pi. Yan's only book that i've read... not sure if it qualifies as one the 10 greatest... but still a damn good read, tough to put down

Vonnegut - anything of course

Easton Ellis - haven't read the newest one... but all of his other stuff is great

not exactly "up on things"... could only come up with four, but i like 'em

but yeah, Motherless Brooklyn is great.

And I liked Life of Pi a lot, but not nearly enough to put him in the top ten.

uhm, now I forget what else you said.

Oh, yeah, Ellis. I think he has flashes of absolute genius, and long stretches of genius-free work.

I didn't like Life of Pi much though, right about the time "the Island" came up I seriously tuned out.
>And I liked Life of Pi a lot, but not nearly enough to put him
>in the top ten.

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George Michael: Ann.

Michael: ... getting her all glittered up for Easter, you know?

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How To Be Good and A Long Way Down are serious disappointments to those of us who thought that his first two were so wonderful.

B/c there are people with a great novel and then some average to pretty bad ones = Franzen, Denis Johnson, Colson Whitehead, Jeanette Winterson. There is Junot Diaz with his one great book. There are also people that I think have a good book in them like David Means. But the only two writers that I can say I think are consistently good are DeLillo and James Salter.

BTW

i think he's still writing

George R.R. Martin is incredible
Chuck Pahlunik(most likely spelt wrong)
Neil Gaiman
China Mieville- Incredible writer
Hunter S Thompson will always be my favorite

although to be fair it was the same manuscript that True At First Light came from. just with nothing much cut, so twice as long. but True At First Light was only 1999

anyone read either?

neil gaiman is great. he's got 3 novels (he's famous for the sandman graphic novels), haven't read the anasi boys (sp?) which is his latest, it's a spinoff off american gods and neverwhere...both of which i enjoyed a bunch.

i'd def start out with american gods.

so yeah

ha jin
toni
edwidge
anita shreve
julia alvarez
roddy doyle!!!
joyce carol oates
coetzee

two more...

um

i'll be back i think

slapboxing with jesus - great short stories
the ecstatic - wonderful novel

i would vouch for zadie smith, but i'm not sure what I think about her...i read white teeth but i don't remember it.

francine prose is also pretty prolific as is jonathan lethem. i like what i've read of their stuff, too.

I dont read leisurly as much as I should, but if you haven't read Still Life With Woodpecker or Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, bump both of them to the top of your list for your own sake

i can't believe hes only been mentioned twice so far

~~~~~

It is painful in the extreme to live with questions rather than with answers, but that is the only honorable intellectual course. (c) Norman Mailer

that you, buddy?

Murakami, Edward P. Jones, Phillip Roth, Toni Morrsion, Eugenides, Rushdie, DeLillo, Coetzee


all i could think of for the time being


PEACE

*he said eloquently*

heard wonderful things about it. good to hear you co-sign it...


PEACE

and really regret doing so

it's good.

cant believe this thread still exists

I mean I haven't read him in awhile but he's still putting out novels and his earlier work is classic = The Information, Money, London Fields.

DeLillo is in the same boat. New stuff = not so much. Older stuff = essential. Underworld (if you can take the weight) but Mao II, The Names, Libra and the overrated White Noise.

James Salter is my personal favorite but his best work is almost 40 years old now.

I have to give Franzen the benefit of the doubt but I'm not sold. While The Corrections is an A+, his other two are C's.

Michael Cunningham is also worth mentioning.

BTW

and i'm suprised nobody mentioned him as well as McEwan or McCarthy (as mentioned in the post below).


PEACE

Is another the definitely belongs in this conversation.

And I'm not a fan but I'm surprised no one mentioned Ian McEwan.

BTW